


Hero's Spirit

by Roxiepluto



Series: DigiOTP Week 2017 [1]
Category: Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Genre: AU, DigiOTPweek, M/M, Taisuke, superhero au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-15 06:03:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11799939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roxiepluto/pseuds/Roxiepluto
Summary: Ever since the crack appeared in the sky, the group of superheroes called the digidestined had fought to keep their town safe. Tai didn’t think anything would change until one day he met a boy with powers like theirs. Davis always knew he was too loud and brash to accomplish much, but then one superhero gives him the chance he needs to prove himself.Prompt 1 (Superhero AU) of DigiOTP Week.





	Hero's Spirit

“Gatomon, behind you,” he shouted, unable to barge past the monster he was fighting to get to his beloved sister in time. Kari spun around, her white and yellow striped hood almost falling off her head as the ears on it bobbed precariously. Kari gritted her teeth at the monster that was almost ontop of her and lashed out with one of her gloved hands, a shadow fist forming in front of it to knock the monster in the face and send it flying back a few metres.

Tai was so busy grinning at the strength his sister possessed, that he didn’t notice the monster he was fighting had moved until suddenly he felt something hit him hard in the stomach. He gave a grunt of pain as he was pushed back a few metres, glad that he was able to take more than the average person.

A blast of ice whooshed past his ear, hitting the monster right in the face, leaving it to claw pitifully at his frozen features for a moment before a blast of air came from Tai’s left to smash hard against the icy green face, leaving the monster to smash to the ground.

“Agumon! Don’t lose focus,” came a growl from behind him and Tai turned to see Matt glaring at him, even behind the light and dark blue striped mask adorning his face.

“Yeah, you know Gatomon can handle herself,” added TK who was floating up in the air and grinning cheekily down at him; his orange and cream ears attached to the hood flapping in the breeze.

There was a roar as another monster charged at them, apparently a fan of interrupting conversations and Matt turned in its direction, and spread his hands out towards it. An icicle formed quickly in front of Matt before he pushed his hands out and the icicle flew right into the oncoming monster’s chest.

“Efficient as ever, Gabumon,” said Tai as he watched the monster disintegrate in mid-air into dozens of tiny pieces that floated back into the crack in the sky where the monsters had come from.

“We need to hurry and finish these ones off,” explained Matt as he sent out another icicle without even looking. Tai hated how impressed he was when he saw that the icicle hit its target without Matt even looking. “I just got a message from Tentomon saying the attack seems to be concentrated on their side of town this time.”

Tai nodded, all seriousness returning as he spun around to face the group of monsters that Kari was currently keeping at bay. He sprung up into the air and with a deep breath, blew a rain of fire down onto the monster. He watched in pleasure as they all disintegrated into particles, leaving the street that they had been fighting on as it had been prior to today’s attack. Only one smashed car and a dent in the road this time; they were getting batter at reducing the public property damage. After a few years of fighting these monsters, he shouldn’t have been surprised.

“Let’s get going.”

\--

Davis grit his teeth as he heard the monsters rampaging outside the building he and Ken were currently huddled inside. They had seen the monsters descend from the crack when they were out walking Ken’s dog earlier and had rushed into the closest building to wait for the digidestined to show up and destroy them, as they always did.

The problem was that in all the chaos of the crowded streets running inside buildings, the lead had been pulled from Ken’s hand and they had been pulled in, along with the crowd whilst poor little Wormmon had been left out as the door had slammed shut behind him. Davis had opened the door again in a hurry but Wormmon was no-where to be seen and the monsters had been almost there so Ken had pulled him back inside and shut the door again.

The digidestined had arrived not long after the monsters touched down and the fighting had begun in earnest but the fight was taking longer than usual and Ken was sat against the door by his side, shaking as tears ran down his face. Davis glanced over helplessly; he knew how much Wormmon meant to his best friend. He had been a gift from his parents, not long after his brother, Sam died and Davis had seen the way the small fluffy corgi had helped Ken get over the loss. That damn dog meant everything to Ken and yet he was out there right now, in the middle of the battle, with all those monsters around.

Davis clenched his fists to his sides. He couldn’t just sit by and do nothing as someone else was taken away from Ken when he knew he could do something about it. He jumped up and wrenched the door open so quickly that Ken didn’t have time to do more than turn to him with a look of disbelief on his face before Davis had slammed it behind him once more. A gust of wind rushed past and he lifted his arm to protect his face from the dust as he heard the howls of monsters and their screams of pain as the digidestined fought them.

He squinted his eyes and lifted his arm as he looked out onto the street. He gasped and darted away, as he realised how close the monsters were to his building. He glanced up to see Tentomon sending down bolts of electricity and Biyomon sending blasts of air down at the monsters who promptly burst into tiny pixels. Davis had only ever seen it on the news before and he froze momentarily before a vine flew past him, impaling another monster who had been sneaking towards him.

“Get out of here!”

Davis turned to see Palmon gliding up on top of a thick vine that had sprouted from the ground, the pink flower resting from her hood as pretty as ever despite the fight. He nodded at her and ran as fast as he could from the centre of the fight, glancing up only as he noticed Gomamon directing the water from a fire hydrant towards the monsters.

The didgidestined were strong but Davis was sure there were more monsters than normal today. He knew the digidestined normally split up into teams when the monsters arrived, to minimise civilian casualties but the monsters seemed to be everywhere and Davis found his heartrate jumping as he ducked out of the way of a monster that reached out it’s claws for him.

He was suddenly feeling like this had been a terrible mistake. Wormmon was so small the monsters probably couldn’t hit him if they tried but Davis, on the other hand, was definitely a more attractive target.

The monster growled as he ducked and Davis threw himself out of the way of another blow. He pushed himself quickly back up onto his feet, ready to give up this ridiculous endeavour and find a place to hide when he heard a small yapping sound. He froze and glanced over to see Wormmon backing away from a monster that had it trapped between bits of rubble that had appeared in the fighting. He was yapping valiantly at it but Davis could see that he would get squashed flat in mere moments.

His attention was brought back to the monster in front of him as he sensed him pulling his arms back for another attack. Davis darted out of the way once more, thankful for his speed from all his years of playing football as he ran directly towards Wormmon, even as the monster threw his club up in the air.

All Davis could think about at that second was how distraught Ken would be if something were to happen to Wormmon, and so, just like that, all logic disappeared from his brain as he dived forward over the rubble. He landed in front of Wormmon, quickly pulling him to his chest and closing his eyes as he braced for the hit.

Instead he heard a sickening thud but he didn’t feel anything and when he opened his eyes, he watched as an orange bandana fluttered down onto the ground next to him. Davis widened his eyes as he realised that it wasn’t a bandana; it was Agumon’s eye mask. He spun around, with Wormmon still in his arms to see the superhero hunched over him, his arms wide from where he had protected him from the attack.

Davis gaped in shock though as he saw the superhero’s face for the first time, but that may have been more due to the blood dripping from his head than anything. Agumon grimaced, his chocolate brown eyes shifting to stare down at him as he asked, “You alright?”

Davis felt his heart quicken at the gaze directed at him and quickly nodded, looking away before he glanced back up to stare at the blood on his head. He didn’t know what possessed him to do it but before Agumon could move, Davis suddenly reached up and touched Agumon’s head with his right hand, ignoring the blood now caking his hair to touch the gash beneath it.His logic returned a second later though as he flinched back, his hand returning to his side.

Agumon was frowning down at him in confusion for a moment before suddenly his eyes widened. Sadly Davis didn’t get to find out why because the monster gave a growl from behind them and Agumon quickly spun around to blow a ball of fire right into the creature. It disintegrated quickly into particles but the other monsters in the area began to make their way towards them.

Agumon growled and quickly turned back to Davis, squatting down as he retrieved his eye mask off the floor. “What’s your name?”

“Davis,” he replied quickly, watching in a daze as Agumon quickly took his goggles off, that kept his hood in place, and handed them to Davis. Davis blinked in confusion as he glanced between Agumon and the goggles in his hand.

“Well Davis, my name is Tai and I want you to find me after all this fighting is finished, alright?”

Davis nodded in surprise and when Tai grinned down at him, he felt his heart skip a beat. Tai spun around and charged away from Davis and towards the monsters, reams of fire spewing from his mouth and towards the monsters.

Davis stayed frozen on the ground as he watched the superhero, whose name he now knew as Tai, as he cleared the area of monsters and ran off to where the rest of the fighting was still going on. The famous Agumon of the digidestined wanted to talk to him? What could he possibly want to talk to him about? Was it because Davis had seen his true face?

Davis would never tell anyone; he’d admired the group of superheroes ever since they appeared on the scene, saving them all from the monsters. He would sooner die than tell anyone his secret identity.

“Davis! Thank god!”

Davis turned to see Ken running towards him, dodging the piles of rubble in the road and stumbling a little in his worried effort to get over to him.

“Ken, Wormmon’s okay,” he exclaimed with a grin as he held up the panting corgi in his arms.

When Ken made it over, he glanced down at Wormmon for a brief second before he slapped Davis hard on the arm. Davis could only concede that at least it wasn’t his face.

“What was that for? I saved him.”

“You could have been killed,” spat Ken, and Davis opened his mouth to defend himself, when he finally realised how much Ken was shaking right then. He must have been terrified but he had come out to try and help anyway.

Davis pursed his lips, the guilt coursing through his veins as he looked at his friend shivering amidst the bangs of the battle going on further away. He stood up, tucking Wormmon under one of his arms as he reached and hand out to grab Ken’s wrist and said, “Come on, let’s get somewhere safe.”

Ken nodded, probably not trusting himself to say anything more and let Davis lead him through the now quiet streets. The battle was almost over now and the monsters wouldn’t return again until tomorrow so they were safe for now. He glanced guiltily over his shoulder to look for Tai but it was hard to make out anything through the buildings. He could still picture the grin Tai sent him when he passed the goggles to him. The sparkle in his eyes was something he had never seen directed at him before. He clutched tighter at the goggles in his free hand. He wouldn’t be able to find him today but he would find a way to talk to him again. Tai had given him his goggles so that had to mean something, right?

\--

“I don’t understand how you got so much blood in your hair if there’s no wound,” commented Sora as she carefully picked through his hair in an effort to find a wound that she was sure he must have. He didn’t blame her; it had been a nasty, painful gash. At least until the boy from earlier had gotten to it. Davis; the boy who had healed him with a single touch.

“Let it be Sora, if he says he’s fine, I’m sure he’s fine,” insisted Mimi from where she was lounging on a sofa on the other side of the room, “There are more important things for you to be doing right now, like helping me pick my outfit for the gala tonight!”

Sora shook her head affectionately at her friend but thankfully she released Tai, allowing him to crack his neck and scratch at the dried blood on his skin. Tai frowned, tuning out his friends as they began to discuss the gala that night, instead focusing on the boy from earlier. He’d been unable to find him after the fight, despite what they boy had said, and he had continued to look until people had begun trickling back out of the buildings and Matt had had to drag him away.

He hadn’t mentioned Davis to the others, despite the fact that he had clearly healed the gash on his head, for no other reason than he wanted to be sure that the younger boy was like them before he mentioned it. He didn’t want the others to get excited or worried about the prospect of other’s being like them without some more solid proof.

The only reason he and the others had gotten their powers was because they had a connection to the world on the other side of the crack. They had travelled through it by accident, developed strange powers and found their way back home. Izzi had even hypothesised that their journey between worlds had caused the barrier between the two worlds to crumble and that that had been what had caused the crack in the sky.

Tai couldn’t be sure of all that, but he knew that the eight of them only had powers because of their connection to the other world and he didn’t understand how someone else could have amazing power like theirs without having been to the world like they had been. Was it possible that the crack had been present for so long that it had started to affect ordinary people?

That was why he needed to talk to Davis; he needed to find out for sure if he had any connection to the other world.

“Are you even listening Tai?”

Tai blinked and looked up to see Izzi with an eyebrow raised in his direction and the others all looking at him.

“Huh? What?” he replied lamely, knowing he’d get chewed out for not listening later.

Izzi pursed his lips for a moment, a clear sign of his annoyance at having to repeat himself, “We were discussing whether we should wear our full costumes tonight or whether we can get away with just our masks.”

“I want to wear a dress,” whined Mimi, flopping dramatically on the sofa.

Joe rolled his eyes from next to her and added, “But it means that we don’t have protection if a fight breaks out or something.”

“We’ve already had today’s monster fight,” insisted TK from where he was perched on the arm of Kari’s armchair, “You know they don’t come out more than once a day so what are you worried about?”

“It doesn’t hurt to be prepared,” agreed Matt, running a hand through his hair before resting it on Sora’s waist, “There were more monsters than usual today so who knows what else might be changing.”

Tai’s thoughts instantly returned to Davis and the strange powers. Things were definitely changing.

“But whatever we choose, we have to all do,” explained Izzi as he turned to glance around the room, looking pointedly at Mimi for a second as if to emphasise the point, “We need to appear as a united front to the public.”

“So Tai, long story short, you get the casting vote,” explained Sora with a smile.

Tai blinked, though he shouldn’t have been surprised; he had seemed to take the leadership role in their group and it wasn’t the first time he’d had the final vote. He paused, resting his chin on his hand as he thought through the options. It was true that their suits, designed by Izzi, gave them a fair amount of protection, but it was also true that they were unlikely to get any trouble at the gala. The monsters had never attacked more than once a day and there was no reason for that to change. It might even look good to the public if they were out of their uniforms as they would seem relaxed, like there was nothing to worry about. That feeling might even spread.

“I say we forget the uniforms for tonight,” explained Tai with a grin as he watched the girls all break out into smiles at the prospect of wearing dresses, “Let’s just go out there and make sure everyone knows there’s nothing to worry about.”

\--

Davis was lying in his room, staring up at the goggles he was holding above his head. He still couldn’t believe they had been given to him by a superhero. By Agumon. His heart started thumping away in his chest as his mind threw him pictures of Tai hunched over him, protecting him from the monster. He would be dead without him.

Suddenly there was a knock on his door and he sat up, quickly hiding the goggles behind him, “Yeah?”

The door opened and Ken poked his head in the door. Davis smiled at his friend and ushered him in, bringing the goggles back round since he had already told Ken everything earlier on, except Tai’s real name. Ken had been astonished and equally mystified as to why Agumon might want to talk to him, but he had felt incredibly guilty when he realised that Davis had missed his chance to talk to the superhero because of him, despite Davis’ insistence that it wasn’t his fault.

“What’s up?” asked Davis as he strapped the goggles on his forehead, copying Tai’s signature style.

Ken glanced up at the goggles and then looked back down at him before he smiled, “I got you in!”

Davis cocked his head to the side, his brows pushed together in confusion for a moment before a lightbulb went off in his mind. “You don’t mean the gala, do you?”

Ken nodded and Davis jumped up from the bed, pumping a fist in the air in joy. The gala was a big event hosted by the city to thank the superheroes for their continued support in keeping the monsters at bay. It was an event for only the important people in town, but they had held a competition this year to give some lucky nobodies a chance to win tickets. Davis had entered the competition, multiple times, but he had been unlucky. He’d always wanted to meet the superheroes, even before Tai had saved him. He’d looked up to them ever since they appeared on the scene a few years ago.

“Don’t get too excited; I just pulled some strings and got you a position as a waiter, but that should give you enough time to talk to Agumon, right?” explained Ken, looking hopefully over at him.

Davis grinned; no matter the stipulation, he couldn’t deny that he was incredibly grateful to Ken for getting him anywhere near the superhero, let alone to the big gala. “So there are perks to having a best friend who’s a child genius after all?”

Ken laughed and Davis grinned, glad that he could cheer his best friend up from where he had been needlessly worrying.

\--

“You just need to hold the tray and walk around so the guests can help themselves, am I clear?”

“Yes, sir,” replied Davis as he struggled not to tug the collar around his neck. The suit he was wearing was uncomfortable and the guy he was working under was a slave driver. He’d been here for hours already but all he’d been allowed to do was work in the kitchens, despite the promise of a shift as a waiter. Thankfully for Davis, one of the other waiters fell ill so the boss had unhappily roped him in to the waiters’ role he had originally been expecting.

The boss, a short man with impeccable hair and a ridiculous twirled moustache, looked down at him, his lips pursed as though he wondered how he had ever agreed to let Davis into this role before he simply nodded to him and turned away.

Davis let out a sigh of relief and walked quickly out of the door and into the crowded gala ballroom. The room was filled with hundreds of people; men in fancy black, blue or white suits and women in beautiful dresses in an array of colours so wide that Davis was sure there were more colours than he had been previously aware of. He froze as he looked out amongst the crowds and wondered if it was really going to be so easy to find Tai amidst all of these people.

Davis ignored the nervousness in his chest and strode out, as confidently as he could manage as he began to circle the room, scanning the crowds as he went for any sign of the familiar costume. But it was much more difficult than he had expected and time kept passing by with no sign of the hero. His tray had been emptied a while ago but he didn’t want to go back and get more until he had done what he had come here to do.

That was when he noticed a young lady dressed in a gorgeous baby pink gown, her red hair flowing out behind her, covered only in a pink blindfold. He blinked for a moment before he realised it wasn’t a blindfold at all; it was an eye mask. It was Biyomon! He noticed that the man standing next to her was wearing an eye mask too; a light and dark blue striped one which must have meant it was Gabumon.

Davis glanced excitedly around the two of them, hoping to see the familiar orange colouring of Tai’s eyemask but there was no sign of him.

“I think you’re out of hors d'oeuvres,” said a voice behind him and Davis span around in surprise to see the familiar eye mask of Tentomon behind him. Davis wanted to jump up and down in the air excitedly like a child at the fact that his heroes were right here, in front of him.

“You were staring at my colleagues over there, can we help you at all?” asked Tentomon, his manner of speaking straight to the point, just like the attacks Davis had seen him use in battle on the television.

“Er…I just…” he stumbled, his nervousness at a peak now that he was finally talking to one of his heroes, “I’m a big fan of you guys; you’re just so cool and amazing and I want to be a hero like you one day.”

When Davis finally managed to stop speaking, Tentomon just blinked at him in silence for a moment before he replied, “That would be impossible since you don’t have any powers.”

“Huh?” he replied dumbly, his heart sinking in his chest at Tentomon’s words.

“We’re only heroes because we have powers,” replied Tentomon patiently, “And it’s only the eight of us who have powers, so no-one else can become a hero…it’s nothing personal.”

Davis’ shoulders sagged and he nodded. He hated the way Tentomon had phrased it but no-one could deny that he was right. What had Davis been hoping for anyway? For Tai to ask him to join their team and fight alongside them as one of the digidestined? It was so ludicrous that Davis felt himself flush in embarrassment.

“Right…well…it was nice to meet you,” he managed to get out before he turned tail and walked quickly away, trying to ignore the rejection that sat painfully on his chest. He headed back, making his way towards the kitchen but stopped just before the door when the whiff of chocolate passed his nose. He looked to the side and noticed an entire table dedicated to desserts; chocolates truffles, 3 tier high fruit cakes, chocolate cakes drizzled with chocolate sauce, freshly baked cookies dipped in white chocolate, trifles and puddings of various colours sitting in tiny glasses to name but a few.

He spied the cookies sitting on the side and glanced left and right before deciding that he at least deserved to have one to try and combat the disappointment. The problem was that one turned into two and then into three until he had finished the entire plate and had then moved on to the tiny multi-coloured glasses of dessert.

That was when someone grabbed him by the back of his jacket and pulled him quickly back into the kitchen. Davis barely had time to react before he was twirled around by a burly man in a suit that reminded him vaguely of the film ‘Men in Black’ to face the boss, who was looking at him like he would have him killed if it was acceptable.

“Oh, H…hey there boss,” he greeted weakly, the guard keeping a tight grip on his shoulders in case he ran away.

“I gave you a chance but it’s clear that if I allow you to stay then you’ll just make a mockery out of this whole evening,” he explained, his eyes narrowed accusingly at him before he looked up at the guard behind him and spoke again, “Get him out of here.”

“Yes, sir,” the guard replied and before Davis could do more than give a protesting yelp, he found himself pushed out the back door before it locked closed behind him.

Davis grit his teeth and turned, ready to bang his fists against the door in retaliation to their snobbish behaviour but he felt the goggles that had been sitting in his pocket fall out and land on the floor by his feet. That brought his attention back to the heroes, and just like that his anger disappeared, replaced once more by rejection.

He gave a sigh and knelt down on the floor, reaching out to gently pick his goggles up and wipe the dirt off them. What had he hoped to accomplish by coming here tonight anyway? All he was good at was being loud and obnoxious so how could he really be useful to an amazing superhero like Agumon. He could still picture Tai hunched over him to protect him from the monsters and the way it had made his stomach feel strange.

Davis gave a small sigh and clutched the goggles to his chest. He would just have to find another way to give Tai back his goggles…maybe he could give them to the doormen and ask them to deliver it…

“How much longer?”

“Not long; maybe 20 minutes at the most”

Davis’ ears picked up two voices from somewhere in the alley he had been dumped in. From where he was crouched in the door entryway, he was hidden behind the dumpster teeming with rubbish so they obviously didn’t know he was here. He was about to stand up and walk away, since they were clearly having a private conversation when he heard one of the men say, “You sure it’s enough to knock the heroes out?”

Davis’ eyes widened; was someone planning on attacking the heroes?

The first man shushed the other, knowing they had to be careful with what they said before he replied, “It’s enough.”

“But what if…” began the second man before he was shushed once more.

“No more questions; you never know who might be listening in,” he explained and Davis suddenly felt like his breathing was too loud from where he was hidden. He did his best to breathe quietly and within moments he heard footsteps receding out of the alley, leaving him alone once again.

Davis gave a small sigh of relief once everything was quiet once more and looked down at his goggles. Someone was planning on knocking the heroes out? But what was happening in 20 minutes that could…

The toast. The toast at the end of the evening to the heroes to thank them for all they’d done. Champagne was served to everyone so the men must have put something in there to knock them out.

Davis clenched the goggles in his fists once more; Tai had saved him earlier and even if he was only loud and obnoxious, maybe that was all he needed to be right now to pay him back.

Davis pulled the goggles over his head, grinning to himself as he stood up and turned to make his way out of the alley. He was going to save them, no matter what.

\--

Tai tried not to seem distracted as he made his rounds in the ballroom but he found his hand frequently travelling up to his head to where the gash from earlier had healed. Despite trying not to think about the mysterious boy from earlier, that had been all he was able to think of. How was someone who hadn’t been with them, been able to develop powers like he had? It just didn’t make sense.

Despite wanting to keep things a secret, he knew he was going to have to tell Izzi about it so that they could track him down and work out what was going on. He still remembered the look of surprise on the boy’s face when Tai had protected him from the monsters, as though being saved hadn’t even crossed his mind.

“Agumon, I see you haven’t got your goggles today, are you going for a new look?”

Tai turned to see a young lady with bright red hair in a long green dress and desperately clamped the instinct to tell her she looked like a Christmas decoration.

Just as he was about to reply, he heard a commotion over by the front doors and turned to see others turning towards the door too. He could hear raised voices and distinctly heard someone shout, “I need to talk to Agumon!”

“Looks like I’m needed,” he explained as he turned back to the young lady and gave her a smile. She seemed bemused but nodded and Tai quickly made his way through the crowds of people and towards the commotion.

As soon as he broke through the crowd, he saw security battling to drag someone out of the room who was shouting loudly that he needed to talk to Agumon.

“What’s going on?” he demanded, glancing around to see that most of his fellow digidestined had assembled nearby and were watching curiously. The guards and the boy turned around and Tai immediately recognised Davis, the boy from earlier, whose face broke out into a relieved smile when he saw him there.

The relief must have stopped the boy fighting for a moment because suddenly the security staff had hoisted him up off the ground and began carrying him out.

“Agumon! Don’t drink the champagne!” the boy exclaimed loudly as he continued to struggle in the security’s grip, “It’s poison!”

“Hey, wait!” Tai walked after the security men who were dragging Davis away but another guy stepped in the way.

“I’m sorry sir but he’s been labelled as a threat, we can’t let you risk yourself.”

Tai glared up at the man, his fists clenched at his sides, “Are you forgetting who I am?”

“No, sir,” the man replied coolly as though he was used to that kind of behaviour, “But we have a job to do.”

Tai was about to shout at him again to step out of the way when he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Izzi shaking his head at him. He frowned at his friend but a glance behind him told him all he needed to know as he saw the worried looks of all his fellow digidestined and many of the guests.

Everyone was on edge after what Davis had shouted and now it was up to him, as the leader to try and calm everyone’s nerves, despite his inclination to run after the boy and find out exactly what was going on. The crowds were muttering amongst themselves and Tai stepped forward, ignoring his own feelings in favour of calming the crowds.

“There’s nothing to worry about; it was just a boy with too much imagination, please go about your evening,” he announced, in the voice he always used for public appearances. It seemed to work and the muttering of the crowds seemed to become more relieved and light-hearted.

“What’s going on?” whispered Izzi, “That kid had your goggles, did something happen?”

Tai pursed his lips at his friend who always needed to know what was going on and shook his head, “I’ll explain everything later but right now we need to check that champagne. Grab Palmon and meet me in the kitchen.”

Izzi looked like he would much prefer to ask more questions but he must have realised that time was running out until the toast and they couldn’t afford to make it late after the scene Davis caused if they didn’t want to cause a panic, so instead he nodded and walked back over to the others. Tai turned simultaneously and made his way past the dessert table and into the kitchens, where the staff all turned to look incredulously at him as though they couldn’t fathom why someone as famous as him would be in the kitchens.

“Where’s the guy in charge?” he asked, right before a man in a suit that looked so out of place in the kitchen walked up to him, leaving Tai with no questions as to who was in charge.

“It is an honour to meet you Agumon,” said the man with a bow of his head, “How can I assist you this evening?”

“We have reason to believe that the champagne for the toast may have been tampered with and I wish for my colleague to check it for any unusual substances,” he explained quickly and quietly to try and keep things between as few people as possible. He knew the kitchens were pretty quiet at the moment though and with everyone straining to hear him, he doubted anyone had missed it.

The man’s eyes widened in disbelief and after a moment’s hesitation replied, “I have been watching over it all evening to ensure no-one tampered with it but, of course, if you wish to check it then please go ahead. My only wish is for you and the other digidestined to enjoy yourselves and if you wish to check the champagne then please do.”

Tai nodded, glad that the man didn’t seem to be taking the slight against himself too badly before he heard the door swing open and shut behind him and turned to see Izzi and Mimi walking in.

Mimi was pouting and complained, “This better be important; I was having a wonderful discussion with a young, rich CEO.”

Tai watched with mild amusement as Izzi rolled his eyes before he got serious again as he explained, “I need you to check the champagne to see if it’s been tampered with.”

Mimi pursed her lips, her hero side returning as she realised the seriousness of the situation, “Understood.”

Tai looked expectantly over at the man in charge and he hurriedly ran over to the corner and grabbed one of the bottles of champagne off the rack on the wall before returning and handing it over to Mimi.

“I’ll need a glass, please,” she asked as she took the champagne and expertly popped the cork off like she’d done it a million times before. Tai guessed she probably had; she was from a rich family after all, even if she was only 18 years old.

The man disappeared and quickly reappeared with a sparkling champagne flute which he handed over. Izzi took the champagne from her and poured her a glass which she accepted before swirling the liquid around and holding it up to her eye. She sniffed it and pursed her lips in a way that suggested to Tai that she wasn’t getting any sort of reaction from it. Did that mean it was safe after all?

“Please excuse the manners,” asked Mimi before she placed one of her delicate fingers just inside the liquid in the glass and closed her eyes. It was one of Mimi’s powers; that she could detect poisons, either in substances (such as soil) or in liquids and Tai couldn’t be more thankful for the power right now. He wanted to believe Davis, even if he’d only met him recently, because his powers made Tai feel like he was one of them, but not drinking to the toast would be a major faux-pas which he could only justify if Davis was telling the truth.

“Anything?” asked Tai, his frown deepening at Mimi’s concentration.

Mimi took her finger out of the champagne and wiped it on the napkin the passing waiter proffered before she shook her head at Tai with an apologetic frown, “Sorry Tai but the champagne is totally clear of poison; I didn’t get any reactions at all…”

Tai paused, as he watched the waiters busying about to pour the other bottles of champagne into glasses ready to hand to the guests. He felt oddly put out at the fact that the champagne hadn’t been tampered with. Did that mean that Davis had been lying?

“Right…well that’s good,” he replied, hating the put-out feeling in his stomach as he turned to the man in charge and gave him his usual charming smile before he added, “Thank you so much for your co-operation.”

The man shook his head quickly and accepted the bottle back from Izzi before he said, “If you would like, I can get a waiter to follow you with this bottle and your toast can come from this one if that would make you feel better?”

Tai nodded, still wanting to believe Davis, even if only a little, “That would be very good of you; thank you.”

The door to the kitchen opened and Sora’s head popped in, “They’re about to start the toasts.”

Tai nodded at her and glanced back to see that the man in charge had grabbed one of the waiters for him; a short boy with short brown hair, who was quickly pouring enough glasses for the digidestined from the bottle that Mimi had checked for poison.

“We’re heading out,” said Izzi and Tai looked back to see him looking pointedly at Tai, a clear indication that he was going to get a full and detailed explanation once the evening was over before he disappeared out of the door after Mimi.

Tai did his best to stifle a sigh as he turned to see that the waiter was ready to go and followed him dutifully as he left the kitchen. Davis wouldn’t really have done all that just for a prank, would he? It was true that he didn’t really know the boy so maybe it was just silly to act like he knew him, just because of his powers. Mimi had checked the champagne after all and there was no sign of any poison and he knew how thorough her powers were. If there had been any poison at all, she would have detected it.

There was a loud dinging noise that reverberated around the room and Tai looked up, having unconsciously made his way to where he needed to be up on stage next to his friends, to see the mayor lightly tapping his champagne glass into the microphone before he spoke into it.

“Good evening everyone; thank you very much for coming tonight to honour our gracious heroes for their constant hard work to keep this town safe.”

There was a scattering of applause as the waiter that had been shadowing offered the tray of glasses towards Tai. He hesitated only for a moment before he took one of the glasses and watched as the boy made his way along the line, allowing all the other digidestined to take a glass as well. He stared at it and listened as the mayor continued on. Davis had lied to him; that was the only explanation or Mimi would have detected it. …So why did that feel so wrong to him?

“Ever since the crack in the worlds appeared a few years ago, we have lived in fear of the monsters that come through to attack us, but thanks to these eight heroes, our town and it’s people remain safe and able to live normal lives from the protection they provide. They go out there and risk their own safety for the sake of all of us, whether they know us or not, and for that we must be truly grateful.”

There was a mutter of agreement around the room but Tai was spinning circles in his mind. Davis had looked so relieved when he had spotted him earlier and when he was being dragged away his plea had sounded so desperate. He couldn’t have been lying, could he? But why was he so desperate to believe Davis, when he was practically a stranger?

“And so I would like to make a toast,” continued the mayor as he held his glass high in the air, “May you always keep our city safe… to the wonderful digidestined heroes!”

There was a cheer around the room and the mayor took a sip of his champagne. Tai could hear his fellow digidestined raise their glasses to take a sip as well but Tai just stared down at his as he realised why he wanted to believe Davis so much. The boy reminded him of himself when he was younger; Davis felt like a version of himself before he had learned to temper everything he said and did to protect the public image of the heroes. Running in to warn them of sabotage without any thought for public reaction, or even his own safety felt like something he would have done when he was younger. Davis just couldn’t have been lying…

“And so I would like to thank you all for coming and suggest you try something else from our wonderful dessert table before you go this evening,” added the Mayor with a small chuckle, “Might I suggest the passion fruit…”

Tai’s gaze snapped up to the Mayor as he stopped speaking suddenly. Tai was behind so he couldn’t see exactly what was happening, but the mayor seemed to sway for a moment before suddenly he was toppling to the ground like a pile of bricks. Tai lunged forward to catch him, his glass dropping out of his hands as he did so, and thankfully he managed to catch the mayor before his head hit the ground. He quickly put him down and turned to his friends to see exactly what he had feared. Davis had been right after all; the drink had been poisoned.

He lunged back over as his friends all blinked in confusion, thankful that Kari and Sora had been standing next to each other so he could grab them both and ease them down to the ground. He heard a clatter of something hitting the ground and turned to see that the waiter had dropped his tray and dived to catch Mimi before her head hit the ground. He could see the boy echo his own wince as they heard the guys land with a heavy thud on the ground; they were going to feel that when they woke up. He felt his heart pound worriedly in his chest as he briefly wondered if they were even going to wake up.

“Wha…what’s going on?” asked the waiter, looking around at the fallen heroes, his eyes wide in shock.

“The wine was poisoned,” he replied with a growl, suddenly furious with himself that he hadn’t trusted Davis right from the start and stopped everyone from drinking it. If they never woke up, he would never forgive himself.

“But I thought Palmon said it wasn’t?” asked the boy as he looked down at Mimi and shrugged his jacket off to lay it under her head.

“I guess she was wrong,” he replied, gritting his teeth. How was it possible? Mimi’s powers had never failed them before, so why now? Suddenly he heard several shots from the entrance, quickly followed by screams of panicked voices from the rest of the room.

He stood up quickly to see a big group of people making their way into the hall; eight men and two women were walking leisurely into the room like they owned the place, with the head of the pack being none other than the man who had been in charge in the kitchen. That bastard had double crossed them! But how had he gotten past Mimi’s detection? It still didn’t make sense.

Some of the waiters and guests who hadn’t drunk the champagne were fleeing the room, running desperately around the men, who thankfully, seemed uninterested in them. The seven bodyguards that had been stationed at the party were lying in pain on the ground near where they had been checking on the collapsed guests, blood pouring out of wounds on various parts of their bodies. He quickly realised that although the wounds looked like gunshots, the men walking in weren’t using guns at all. Instead, it was one man on the left, sending tiny blasts of air from the tip of his finger that he was holding out like it really was a gun.

Tai’s eyes widened and he took a disbelieving step back. That man had powers too. Just like he and the other digidestined did. How was that possible?

“What’s your name, kid?”

Tai glanced back to look at the boy who was watching him warily before the boy replied, “Cody.”

“Get out of here Cody, while you still can,” he explained, watching quietly as the group made their way towards him and the others who were unconscious behind him.

“But…” began the boy, before Tai gave a shake of his head. Cody seemed to understand what he was saying implicitly; he would just get in the way. “Alright, but please stay safe.”

Tai nodded and jumped up onto the railing on the balcony, determined to pull the attention of the approaching men away from Cody for long enough that he could escape

“What is going on here?” he shouted, looking down at them and ignoring the way a shiver went up his spine at the self-assured way they were looking up at him.

“Ah Agumon, I’m surprised you didn’t drink the wine after all that checking you did,” said the main in front, a smirk pulling at his lips, “And after your friend went to all the trouble of checking it too. Shame all that wasted effort was the last useful thing she ever did.”

Agumon narrowed his eyes, anger coursing through his veins as he took a deep breath and sent a flamethrower towards them. Or at least…he tried to. Nothing came out.

His eyes widened before narrowing again as the men laughed at him. What was going on? Why weren’t his powers working?

“Sorry about that; I just can’t help repressing the powers of others; it’s my gift. In fact we’ve all got gifts here.” The man grinned at him before he turned to look at the woman next to him and added, “Why don’t you show him what you can do?”

The girl next to him grinned and flung herself high up into the air, like she’d been shot by a cannon before throwing her arms out. Something flew right at him and he managed to dodge out of the way but he heard a series of sickening thuds behind him. Tai turned quickly around to see a purple dart sitting on the necks of all of his friends.

“They’ve got maybe a few minutes left to live now,” explained the girl gleefully as she landed back down on the ground. “My poison is strong and without antidote.”

Tai ignored her and rushed over to pull the darts out but before he could get there, they seemed to descend into the skin and disappeared from Tai’s reach. He felt himself shake and sunk to the floor, his fists pounding against the ground.

He’d failed them. They were going to die and it was all his fault…

He thought he heard some banging somewhere but all he could focus on was his friends in front of him, oblivious to the impending danger.

\--

Davis crawled, army style, along the cramped vent that he had wiggled his way into when he had realised that all his other entrances were being guarded. He had managed to deliver the message but something in his gut told him that they still needed help and after everything the heroes had done to keep him safe, it was the least he could do. Especially Tai, he thought as he glanced up to see the outline of the goggles on his head. Tai wouldn’t just let someone walk into danger alone, so he wouldn’t either.

He had been crawling along the vents, going up and across, using the occasional grates to help him orientate himself. He ignored the slight feeling of claustrophobia that was prodding at the corners of his mind and forced himself to keep going.

But then, gunshots exploded somewhere ahead of him and a tremor ran through him as he wondered if he had been wrong. Maybe the poison had just been a diversion after all. Or maybe he was too late. Maybe Tai was hurt… A burst of adrenaline rushed through him at the thought and he sped through the vents as fast as he could, quickly coming along a grate that showed him exactly where he was. He was right over the balcony and he instantly spotted Tai, who was crouched down by the other digidestined, who were all lying on the floor.

Davis felt relief flood through him instantly when he saw that Tai was okay, before instantly chastising himself for feeling that way when the others clearly weren’t. He pressed his face against the grate as he strained to hear what Tai was saying to the waiter before the waiter ran off and Tai jumped up onto the balcony wall and shouted, “What is going on here?”

Davis felt a tingle in his body as he listened to Tai talk in his hero voice and he felt a desperate need to get down there and help him fight.

He shuffled back and began to work away at the grate latch as he heard “Ah Agumon, I’m surprised you didn’t drink the wine after all that checking you did,”

Davis’ mouth fell open as he recognised the voice of his boss and doubled his efforts of trying to get the grate off as he continued, “And after your friend went to all the trouble of checking it too. Shame all that wasted effort was the last useful thing she ever did.”

He felt a tremor of disbelief pass through him. They couldn’t be dead, could they? Had he really failed them after all? He peeked back through the grate and spotted Tai rear back as he always did before a flamethrower, but despite the stance, no flames appeared and soon the boss was speaking again.

“Sorry about that; I just can’t help repressing the powers of others; it’s my gift. In fact we’ve all got gifts here.” Davis’ mouth fell open. Other people had powers just like the digidestined? He didn’t think it was possible. And more than that, if this man was stopping Tai from using his firepower then could he really take them all down? Davis had to get down there and help. Somehow!

He began pulling hard at the grate as the boss turned to the woman next to him and said, “Why don’t you show him what you can do?”

Davis blinked, changing his tactics to attempting to unscrew the nails instead, and suddenly the woman was up in the air, her arms thrown out as something shot from her to the digidestined. Davis watched Tai evade it, relief flooding through him that it hadn’t hit, before he realised that the darts had been meant for more than just Tai. Every other digidestined now had a strange looking purple needle glowing in their neck.

“They’ve got maybe a few minutes left to live now; My poison is strong and without antidote.”

Davis felt his stomach clench and watched as Tai spun around and ran towards his friends but within seconds the ‘needles’ had sunk into their skin. He watched with horror as Tai sunk to his knees, looking thoroughly defeated.

Davis began banging on the grate, hammering it hard with his fists. Tai needed to get up; the bad guys were coming up the stairs now and were going to be on him in no time. But Tai didn’t move, either unable or unwilling to hear him and the bad guys were getting closer. Davis grit his teeth and began to wrench at the grate with even more vigour, not even caring about the abused skin on his fingertips.

Nothing was working though and he watched helplessly as one of the men grabbed Tai’s arms and held him firmly in place, despite all of his struggling.

“Don’t bother; he’s got superhuman strength,” the man laughed, before he seemed to look at Tai and ponder for a moment, “Maybe we should just put you out of your misery already, hmm? So you can be with your friends?”

Davis only vaguely heard Tai growl at the boss, his mind too busy racing. They were going to kill him. They were going to leave the city totally at the mercy of the monsters, leaving everything to turn to anarchy.

Despite all that, Davis only cared about one thing. He didn’t want them to take away Tai from him. He was a huge ray of light to not just Davis’ life but many others who looked up to the heroes and tried to emulate them. Davis wasn’t sure who he would even be without Tai showing him what true courage was.

If the digidestined really were dying, then he couldn’t lose Tai too. He wouldn’t let it happen!

He didn’t know how but with a growl he reared his head back and swung it down hard against the grate, his forehead meeting the unflinching force of the metal briefly before the grate, and the surrounding vent seemed to explode into shards, leaving Davis to tumble down through the air. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but it certainly hadn’t been that…

Davis had never been known for being a quick thinker, but acting on instinct alone was something he was more than well versed with, which was how he ended up being able to right himself on the fall down, land surprisingly well despite the drop and jump up once more to smash his head hard against the man holding Tai.

The man gave a cry of pain but managed to keep hold of Tai despite the way he fell back onto the floor.

“Get out of here!” yelled Tai, despite the way he winced from the hard landing, “It’s not safe!”

“I won’t leave you,” he replied quickly before suddenly he was floating and then he felt a searing pain in his leg, seconds before he actually heard the sound of a gunshot. The force sent him tumbling back and he landed with a heavy thud between Gabumon and Biyomon, his hands landing right on top of them and his head landing so hard on the floor that everything began to spin.

“You idiot! Why did you float him? I would’ve gotten a chest shot otherwise!”

“I didn’t know you were going to do that; I just wanted to stop him, moron!”

“Will you two stop it!” the boss exclaimed, as Davis gave a groan, the pain flooding through his leg and head making rational thought difficult.

“What a foolish boy you are.” He heard the boss speak again but he wasn’t able to think much beyond the twitching bodies beneath him. “Are you determined to ruin my evening? First the dessert table, then that loud warning about the poison and now this?”

Davis struggled to look up; his head had stopped spinning but the pain radiating up his leg was unlike any other pain he’d ever felt before. He couldn’t do more than prop himself up on his elbows to see the boss grinning sickly down at him. “Maybe we should just put you out of your misery…”

“No! Please! Not him too!” exclaimed Tai loudly and Davis looked over to see him struggling hard against the man holding him, a look of desperation so clear on his face that it made Davis feel guilty. He didn’t want to see Tai making that kind of expression. He wanted to see him smiling and laughing and happy, standing right by his side and…oh.

The man carried on talking but Davis had stopped listening as he grappled with his thoughts, which was something that took his full attention. The man who had shot him earlier took a step forward and pointed his finger just as it dawned on Davis.

Naturally. Of course only he was only able to work out that he was in love with Tai right before he was killed.

Suddenly there was a loud roar of noise around them and within seconds, he was encased in an icy tomb, closing him and the fallen digidestined inside.

“Explain now, and quickly.”

Davis jerked his head to the right so quickly, his head almost span as he saw that Gabumon was sitting up, his face all business despite the way he was rubbing his blond head with a grimace. A female groan to his left quickly explained that Biyomon was awake too.

Davis was surprised but he knew that Tai was still out there with them and speed was the key here if he wanted him to stay alive. The question of how they were awake right now was a matter for another time.

“Tai is in trouble, they can repress powers somehow and they’re going to kill him! Please save him!”

Gabumon stood up and made a doorway at the back of the ice, disappearing out of it at a run before Davis could even finish.

“You helped us, right?” asked Biyomon, her muscles bunched up and ready to follow Gabumon. Davis nodded and she gestured to the others, “Please help them too.”

With that she stood and flew out after Gabumon, not even staying to listen to Davis’ stuttering of how he didn’t know how to do that. Davis glanced over to the other heroes, before looking back down to his leg, which appeared to be oozing a large amount of blood from his thigh. It certainly explained the way his head felt light if he was losing that much blood.

 He looked back over to the heroes; how was he supposed to help them when he didn’t even understand how Gabumon and Biyomon were up and about like nothing had happened when a moment ago they were meant to be dying of poison. The only thing that had happened was that Davis had landed near them…or maybe it was because he touched them?

He glanced over to the two closest digidestined; Gatomon and Patamon and dragged himself closer. A whine escaped his lips at the pain that radiated up his body but he had to try something. More heroes meant more chance that Tai would survive. He wanted that more than anything.

He grabbed hold of Gatomon’s hand in one of his own and his other hand managed to touch Patamon’s forehead. He sat there, stretched awkwardly out, trying to ignore the waves of dizziness that were rolling over him as he wondered if this was really going to work. As the moments ticked by, he began to think it wasn’t actually going to work after all, but then he noticed their eyes flicker open simultaneously.

Gatomon sat bolt upright, grabbing her hand back from Davis as she glanced around and asked, “What’s going on here?”

“You were poisoned but I cured you,” he explained as he watched Patamon sit up and rub the back of his head, “Gabumon and Biyomon are fighting bad guys with powers like ours but Tai’s in trouble; please go and help him.”

Gatomon and Patamon looked worriedly at each other and then over to the remaining three digidestined. Davis couldn’t help the growl that sounded before he barked out, “I healed you; I’ll heal them. Just go and help the others before it’s too late.”

Thankfully for Davis, there was a crash somewhere beyond the ice that was enclosing them and that seemed to be all the encouragement the two needed before they raced out and into the battle. Davis gave a sigh of relief, resting himself briefly on his hands as another wave of dizziness swept over him. He was getting tired now; like he needed to fall asleep. He couldn’t just yet though; he needed to wake the others to make sure that Tai stayed safe. Then he could sleep.

He pulled himself over, another cry of pain escaping his lips as his leg dragged against the floor, leaving a trail of fresh blood as it went. He grit his teeth as he pulled himself the last few inches so that he could grab Gomamon and Palmon’s hands in one hand and Tentomon’s in the other.

He waited, feeling his head begin to bob as he waited for whatever miracle was happening with him to happen again. He felt the tiredness crashing into him and just as he closed his eyes, he felt their hands moving in his. He opened them weakly to see them all blinking and sitting up in confusion.

“What happened?” asked Palmon, adjusting her shawl as she looked around the ice surrounding them. Davis tried to focus but everything around him was getting strangely blurry.

“The champagne really was poisoned,” answered Tentomon, obviously having worked it out already, before he turned to look at Davis, “But the question is how are we awake right now?”

Davis opened his mouth, the world getting dimmer around him as he whispered, “I healed you.” He swallowed thickly, ignoring the way his body swayed as he added, “Save Tai, please…”

With the digidestined all awake and his plea now told to them all, he felt himself stop fighting as the darkness finally overwhelmed him.

\--

Tai watched in horror, ignoring the way his shoulders were being wrenched painfully behind him as Davis was shot and sent barrelling onto the floor on top of Matt and Sora, his head hitting the floor so hard that Tai marvelled that he hadn’t been knocked out. His leg was quickly dribbling with blood though and Tai found himself fighting against the hold the man had on him, regardless of how it was in vain. The man forced his arms closer together and Tai gave a hiss of pain at the movement his arms shouldn’t be able to make and stopped, watching helplessly as the man in charge took a step towards Davis.

“What a foolish boy you are. Are you determined to ruin my evening? First the dessert table, then that loud warning about the poison and now this?”

Tai watched Davis slowly prop himself up on his elbows, hating how helpless he felt at that moment. If only he had his firepower back then none of this would be happening.

“Maybe we should just put you out of your misery…” the man drawled, the grin obvious in his voice, even if Tai couldn’t see it, and Tai felt his heart leap into his throat.

“No! Please! Not him too!” he exclaimed, not caring that the man pulled his arms painfully. He had already failed his friends; he couldn’t let Davis die too. He saw Davis look over to him, and he felt his breath disappear for a moment as Davis smiled like he’d already accepted his fate.

The man glanced back at the air gun man and said, “Shoot him and make it a quick death; I’m not that cruel.”

The man stepped forward and Tai began struggling again, a scream ripping from his throat before it was echoed by a roar and then suddenly there was an icy igloo surrounding the digidestined and Davis, separating them from the bad guys.

Tai wanted to thank whatever god was out there as he recognised the familiar energy of Matt’s ice at work. That meant he was awake, which meant that Davis had healed him when he’d landed on him. If Matt could be healed then so could the others, and they would keep Davis safe. He felt himself relax for a moment as the group turned to the man in charge.

“Don’t look at me you idiots, just get in there and kill them. All of them!” he exclaimed, looking red in the face at the unexpected interruption to his plan. He turned to Tai and with a growl said, “And kill this one too!”

Tai’s eyes widened as suddenly his arms were pulled back so hard that it felt like the man was trying to pull his arms out of his sockets. He gave a cry of pain, feeling his muscles struggling not to tear before suddenly he was released and landed with a crash onto the floor on his knees.

He looked up to see the strong man’s legs frozen to the floor before glancing back to see Matt with his arms out in front of him and a resigned look on his face as he jumped out of the way of a poison dart that was sent his way. Tai realised with a shock that Matt’s ice had worked, even if only for a while before it had been repressed. Did that mean it wasn’t a passive ability like he had assumed?

He felt a rush of air rush past his ear before he heard a cry of pain from someone behind him. He glanced over to see that one of the other men had been sneaking soundlessly up on him but was now out cold on the floor. He glanced back over to see that Sora had joined the fight, though she quickly dropped down to the ground as the man in charge repressed her abilities.

He opened his mouth, putting all the force he dared behind it and to his relief, fire spewed from his mouth, quickly sending some of the men screaming as they rolled on the floor to try and put out the flames on their clothes. He opened his mouth to repeat the process but this time nothing came out, and he realised with a jolt that the man was looking at him this time, a furious glare on his face.

That was what it was. If he looked at you, it repressed your powers.

He couldn’t celebrate his discovery for long because suddenly there was a blast that landed by his feet, sending up a shower of floor tiles around him as he looked around to see Biyomon caught in the hold of another man, whose body seemed to be elasticated, his arm wrapped around her several times like a rope. He only got a glimpse of the pain in Sora’s face as the breath was squeezed out of her before suddenly he was blown off his feet as a wall of sound that sounded like a wolf’s howl knocked him flat onto his back.

He didn’t have time to even re-orientate himself before the man had leapt on top of him, his toothy grin leaving Tai needing no second guesses to guess that his powers must be related to wolves somehow. He opened his mouth to spew flames but once again nothing was coming out and before he even needed to think of a back-up plan, a flaming shadow of a fist blasted into the man’s side, sending him reeling.

He looked over and relief flooded through him when he saw Kari running over to him. She was alright! Thank goodness.

He only had a moment to appreciate the fact though before the fighting began again in earnest as the strong man flew back into the conflict, punching Matt so hard that he went flying over the edge of the balcony to the ballroom below. Sora flew after him but as soon as she flew over the edge of the balcony, she began to fall and Tai realised immediately that the man in charge was using his powers. He ran over, punching the man as hard as he could in the face and was pleasantly surprised when the man went down on the floor like a sack of bricks, and didn’t get up again.

Tai tried not to trip over the prone bodies of the men they had already managed to defeat lying on the ground. He thankfully spotted that the poison woman had been knocked out cold, as well the airgun man and a man and a woman whose powers Tai hadn’t worked out as he’d been too busy in his own fights.

Tai turned around to see TK fighting the elastic man whilst Kari was facing off against the wolf man. The strong man decided to advance towards Kari and Tai ran to intercept him but before he could get there he was knocked so hard in the chest and the pain that exploded was so sharp that Tai was positive a rib had been broken as he flew back and into the stone railing of the balcony.

He blearily looked back to see a man whose whole body seemed to be coated in a shiny silver paint and it took him a moment to realise that the man seemed to be able to turn his skin to metal. It certainly explained the force behind his punch. Shit. He didn’t remember breathing being so painful.

The metal man began to advance on him and he mentally swore; he couldn’t keep fighting when it felt like he was getting stabbed every time he took a shallow breath.

Suddenly the metal man stopped and began to convulse in front of him. Tai blinked and glanced behind to see that Izzi had shocked him from behind before looking back to see the pain etched on the metal man’s face before he sunk down and collapsed onto the floor, his skin returning to normal the moment he fell unconscious.

“Are you alright, Tai?” exclaimed Kari as she ran past the unconscious strong man and over to him.

He smiled as well as he could as he shifted himself carefully into a sitting position, “Just a broken rib I think, what about Matt and Sora?”

“Really bruised and maybe a broken arm and leg,” shouted Sora from somewhere below them, “But we’re alive”

Tai gave a sigh of relief as he scanned the men and women sprawled unconscious on the floor before the inevitable worry creeped in and he asked, “Are they dead?”

Izzi shook his head matter-of-factly before he paused and seemed to consider it, “Hmm, if we managed to knock them out this badly then we’ve probably cause some serious brain damage, and I can’t say for sure if the guys I hit with my attacks are still alive or not…”

Tai felt himself grow a little horrified; they had fought and killed monsters for a long time but this was the first time they had had to fight other humans.

“Don’t feel bad Tai; they were going to kill us…in fact the only reason we aren’t dead is because of that boy from earlier.”

“Davis!” he exclaimed, as he realised that the last time he had seen Davis he had been bleeding heavily from his leg, “Where is he? Is he still hurt? We need to get him help!”

“Mimi and Joe are looking after him now,” replied Izzi, gesturing to the icy igloo behind him. Tai felt a desperation rush through him that he didn’t quite understand and he forced himself to stand up, gritting his teeth as he did so to stop the pained cries escaping his mouth.

Kari gently touched his shoulder in an attempt to stop him and said, “You need to rest Tai, or you’ll make it worse!”

“I have to see him!” he exclaimed right into Kari’s face, surprising even himself that he was so concerned about seeing Davis that he would shout at his sister.

Her eyes widened for a moment before she gave a small smile and nodded, “Alright, but just take it carefully.”

Before he could move though, he heard a commotion from down at the entrance and he watched with wide eyes as the waiter from earlier, Cody was walking in, flanked on all sides by various emergency personnel, who immediately began to spread out and check people over. Cody looked straight up at him and gave him a small nod, as if to say thanks, which Tai echoed before turning back to the icy igloo and making his way inside, as quickly as his rib would allow it.

As soon as he walked in, he saw Davis lying unconscious, slumped against the wall, with blood in trails over the floor. Mimi and Joe were kneeling by him and Tai could see that Joe had tied something on his leg; he realised after a second that it was a tourniquet, to try and stop the bleeding. As he walked forward, he realised how pale Davis was and he felt his heart fall into his stomach as the terrifying thought crossed his mind that he might die.

He rushed forward, the stabbing pain exploding unnoticed in his ribs as he knelt by Davis’ side, his hand running over his hair and to the goggles that he had given him earlier that same day. Davis seemed to have taken the message of courage and friendship to heart and he could only pray that he would get a chance to tell Davis how proud he was of him.

“Tai? Is the fighting over?” asked Mimi from Davis’ other side.

He nodded, not taking his eyes off Davis’ face as he replied, “The emergency services are here too.”

“I’ll go and tell them that we have a priority casualty up here,” said Joe as he stood and made his way quickly out of the igloo.

Tai just continued to look at Davis, not really understanding why he felt as drawn to the young boy as he did. Maybe it was his endless spirit; the kind that had caused him to refuse to give up after getting kicked out and crawl through the vents in an effort to help. The kind of spirit that gave him the courage to face off against a room full of people with powers when he’d clearly only just discovered his own. Tai admired that kind of spirit.

He leaned closer and pulled Davis over to his chest, wrapping an arm around him. He prayed that Davis would make it through; if it hadn’t been for him then he and all the rest of the digidestined would all be dead. And if that happened then the monsters would be free to wreck the town and kill the people. Davis, whether he knew it or not, had saved the whole town.

He squeezed Davis tight, breathing in the scent of shampoo on his hair. Davis was the kind of person the world needed. He was the kind of person Tai needed…

Oh…

\--

Davis woke up slowly to the sound of loud obnoxious snoring coming from somewhere beside him. He felt so groggy and it took him a moment before he could open his eyes, but when he did, he smiled softly at what he saw.

Tai was fast asleep in a chair by his bedside, his loud snores echoing around the room. He was alive and well. Davis’ face fell slightly though when he spied the bandages peeking from under his shirt. Tai was hurt and it was all because he hadn’t done enough. If he hadn’t gotten kicked out then he would have been able to warn him properly and then none of the digidestined would have drunk the champagne. At least Tai had believed him; otherwise things would have turned out very differently.

He found himself reaching out and lightly touched Tai’s cheek, trying not to wake him as he attempted to channel his healing. He still didn’t really understand how it worked or whether it was an intentional thing or not but he had managed to heal the other digidestined before without really knowing how, so he was hoping he could do the same now.

It was impossible to tell though until Tai woke up and Davis couldn’t bear to wake him; he looked tired enough as it was. He left his hand where it was on Tai’s cheek and tried to ignore the fluttering feeling in his stomach. He should just be happy that Tai was alive, and not worry about these strange new feelings that he had, but he couldn’t help it. He’d never fallen for anyone before; he’d always been too busy to even think about such things. But with Tai, it was unconscious; it just happened. There was something that Davis couldn’t help but admire and it made him want to spend every moment around the older boy.

Davis’ arm began to tire and with a small sigh he let go, but the moment he did, Tai’s snoring stopped and his eyes fluttered open.

He looked around blearily for a moment before his eyes met Davis’ and he sat bolt upright, his eyes wide as he exclaimed, “Davis, you’re awake!”

“And you’re alive.” He couldn’t help the relieved smile that spread on his face, as the relief washed over him. “Thank god! I don’t know what I would have…I mean everything would…I should have tried harder to warn you all; I’m so sorry!”

He felt tears fall down his cheeks and quickly moved his hands to wipe away at them, sniffling hard as he did so to try and get himself to stop. He didn’t want to cry in front of Tai. What would he think?

He paused mid-sniff as a hand landed on his head, the fingers running gently through his hair and Davis looked up to see Tai smiling warmly down at him, “You don’t need to apologise Davis. In fact, we should thank you! We’d all be dead and the town would be in danger if you hadn’t done what you did. You’re a miracle, you know that?”

Davis felt his cheeks heat up at the mix of Tai’s praise and the fingers running through his hair and looked away, “It was nothing really…”

Tai stopped stroking his head and Davis only had a short moment to feel disappointed before Tai had grabbed Davis’ cheeks and had turned him so that he was looking right into Tai’s eyes. “It wasn’t nothing!” exclaimed Tai, his eyes seeming to bore right into Davis’ own, “You saved us all.”

“But you got hurt!” he exclaimed, glancing down at the bandages once more and feeling the guilt roll through him that he hadn’t been able to give a clearer warning. “If I’d given a better warning then the others would never have been knocked out and you wouldn’t be injured.”

“You’re making a hell of a lot of assumptions there you idiot,” replied Tai, his fingers still holding tight to Davis’ cheeks before he shook his head and gave a sigh, “I don’t even hurt anymore; I’m healing up just fi…”

Tai paused suddenly, his eyes widening as he let go of Davis and hurriedly patted himself down. After a few moments he looked back up to Davis and said, “You healed me, didn’t you?”

“Of course,” he replied, wondering how it was even a question, “I don’t want you hurt…”

“You’re still healing you idiot!” exclaimed Tai as he took a step forward and loomed over him, glaring down at him for a second before he sighed, his gaze softening as he added, “You’re such a selfless moron.”

For a split second, Davis was ready to argue back, but then Tai moved forward a few inches and pressed his lips gently to Davis’ own. Davis’ eyes widened and he was so shocked that he couldn’t even respond, despite the way the butterflies in his stomach seemed to multiplying at an alarming rate.

Tai pulled back after a moment, averting his eyes, obviously having thought Davis hadn’t liked it as he began to apologise, “I’m sorry, I…”

He didn’t let Tai get any further before he grabbed the collar of Tai’s shirt and dragged him back down, smashing his lips none too gently into Tai’s own as he made it clear in his own way that he felt the same way. He couldn’t understand how Tai might feel the same way about him but he wouldn’t let the opportunity slip through his fingers after how close he’d come to losing him.

 “Davis…” began Tai, a while later after they’d pulled apart, his eyes looking searchingly into Davis’ own and making his heart beat even faster than when they’d been kissing, “Would you join the digidestined?”

Davis felt his heart skip a beat as the question hung in the air. He’d wanted to be a hero for as long as he could remember. He’d idolised the digidestined, ever since their world became endangered, and now he was being asked to join them? The boy who was always too loud and brash or not smart enough, was being asked to become a hero?

He grinned so wide that he felt like his cheeks might fall off as he excitedly exclaimed, “Of course!”

The smile Tai sent back at him sent Davis’ heart into overdrive. He’d never been this happy in his life and he would work hard to make sure he deserved his spot in the fight to save the world as a hero.

\--

“You ready to go Veemon?”

Davis grinned as he looked over to Tai through the blue eye mask he was wearing, and nodded, unhurried despite the oncoming hoard of monsters, “I was born ready.”

Tai smiled at him, sending his insides to jelly as it always did before Tai asked, “You scared?”

Davis raised an eyebrow teasingly at him before he reached a hand up to touch the goggles on his head. “Not a chance.”

Tai grinned before he turned and rushed forward, ready to battle the monsters. Davis grinned too, finally feeling like the hero he always wanted to be as he took a flying leap forward and into battle.

**Author's Note:**

> I worked super hard on this one and it kept growing to end up at 14,000 words…The plot grabbed me and wouldn’t let go…It was never meant to be this long, lol.  
> I have every intention of returning to this story at some point to develop it even more. So many ideas!  
> This pairing has always been one of my guilty pleasures, despite the fact it’s not popular or well known so i’m glad to finally be able to contribute something and i hope people liked reading it!  
> This is my first time contributing to any sort of fandom week so i'm super excited to finally have enough courage to put my work out here and i can't wait to show everyone the rest of what i've written.


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